Another school has been found to have asbestos-containing mulch amid fears more than 100 public and private sites could be contaminated.
St Luke’s Catholic College in Marsden Park, in Sydney’s northwest, has been closed for the next week after 30 cubic meters of mulch at the school tested positive for asbestos.
It comes days after Liverpool West public school was closed and students were moved to a nearby school for the next month.
A “single pile” of contaminated mulch was also found at Penrith Christian School in Orchard Hills; However, the small amount means the school will not have to close.
Four other schools are anxiously awaiting the results, while International Grammar School and Westmead Christian Grammar have been given the all-clear.
Thirty cubic meters of mulch from St Luke’s Catholic College (pictured) has been found to be contaminated with asbestos. The school will be closed for the next week to remove asbestos
NSW Department of Education secretary Murat Dizdar said the amount of asbestos found at St Luke’s had also spread throughout the school.
“It was difficult to cordon off and contain,” he told reporters on Sunday.
‘One school affected is one too many; so far we have worked with 12.
“That’s in 3,000 schools, government, non-government and Catholic in this state.”
A new taskforce led by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has found 36 sites that have asbestos-riddled mulch across NSW since January 10.
NSW Premier Chris Minns last week described the situation as “completely unacceptable”.
While a Mardi Gras fair day was canceled for Sunday after the carcinogenic chemical was found in Victoria Park, Taylor Swift’s Sydney concerts will go ahead after testing at Olympic Park found no contaminated mulch.
Sutherland Hospital in Sydney’s south has been identified for priority testing and has fenced off one of the risk areas.
All but one of the positive tests were found to contain bound asbestos, the least dangerous form of the chemical, while Harmony Park in Surry Hills town center contained friable asbestos.
Liverpool West public school (pictured) was closed last week due to asbestos contamination. It is one of dozens of sites that have tested positive for asbestos.
St Luke’s Catholic College in Marsden Park is the latest school to test positive for asbestos
Bonded asbestos can only cause harm if it is disturbed and released into the air, where it can be inhaled.
Precautionary testing for bonded and friable asbestos has also been carried out on the boundary strips of the Olympic Park and tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on the area to watch Taylor Swift’s concerts next Friday to Sunday.
“I can say with certainty that the port city is ready to welcome Taylor Swift with open arms and the hundreds of thousands of Swifties we hope will enjoy her sold-out performances,” said EPA Executive Director Tony Chappel.
The investigation into asbestos-contaminated mulch is the largest in EPA history and the task force now has more than 130 people.
“We are looking carefully at the entire supply chain, the Prime Minister and our Minister have made it clear that all options are on the table to improve regulatory sessions where necessary, which will be based on our investigation,” Mr Chapell said.
Rozelle locals have had flashbacks of scenes from the pandemic after workers were seen inspecting a park (pictured) in Sydney’s inner west last month for contaminated mulch.
The New South Wales government alleges the GreenLife Resource Recovery Fund is the source of the asbestos crisis.
The company’s Bringelly site, in Sydney’s southwest, received four cleanup notices issued by the EPA after multiple incidents of asbestos contamination before it owned the site.
Greenlife CEO Domenic Vitocco, son of billionaire boss Arnold Vitocco, 59, insists his company is not to blame and says it has been “scapegoated” by the state government.
Workers were seen removing asbestos from Liverpool West Public School last Wednesday.